Government to announce tougher arms export measures to Israel

Crackdown comes as the former international development secretary Andrew
Mitchell warns level of misery and carnage in Gaza likely to poison
remaining goodwill in the region for generations

A Palestinian family carries belongings as they return to their home in Beit HanounPhoto: Finbarr O'Reilly/Reuters

By Keith Perry

9:54PM BST 06 Aug 2014

The Government will announce tougher arms export measures for Israel but will not suspend all export licences, it emerged last night.

The move comes as the former international development secretary Andrew Mitchell warned that the level of misery and carnage in Gaza was likely to poison the remaining goodwill in the region for generations.

Downing Street insiders confirmed that an announcement was “imminent” but said details of the measures were still being finalised. An announcement is anticipated on Thursday.

Mr Mitchell also said that UN schools in Gaza should not have been targeted for attacks since they were places of sanctuary.

On Monday, Downing Street said it was reviewing the sale of arms and military goods to Israel to see whether each licence is appropriate in light of the conflict. But it said the government would not stop licensing military equipment to Israel outright because the country had a "legitimate right to self-defence".

Mr Mitchell, the Conservative MP for Sutton Coldfield, is the most senior former government minister to voice a tougher line than the coalition. His words followed the decision of the Foreign Office minister, Baroness Warsi, to leave the coalition for its failure to condemn the actions of Israel in Gaza.

He said, however, that he disapproved of Lady Warsi's decision on Tuesday to resign, arguing that her voice needed to be heard and that it was better to "fight your corner" in government. Warsi had claimed another minister was close to resignation and Foreign Office minister Hugo Swire was forced to deny reports that he might be the wavering minister.

Mr Mitchell regretted her departure, he said: "She is a great loss and a very important part of the Conservative DNA. She reaches parts rather like Boris [Johnson] that others do not reach so easily."

He stressed that little purpose was served in allocating blame for the war in Gaza since that was unlikely to help bring peace or the restoration of long-term peace talks.

Asked on BBC Radio 4 whether he supported an arms embargo, he said: "I would have thought there is a strong case for weapons getting into this conflict to be minimised as much as possible, and I think it is right that an embargo should be considered." But he stressed no arms were currently being sold to Israel, and there was a case for helping Israel to develop a protective shield.

The Liberal Democrats have been pressing for a suspension of arms export licences. A review of the arms export licence regime is already under way, and the shadow foreign secretary, Douglas Alexander, joined the debate, saying "of course no new licences should be granted where there are doubts about their end use of the military equipment being exported". He called for the government to urgently publish a review already under way. He said the existing guidance was clear that no military or dual-use equipment could be exported that could be used for internal repression, the abuse of human rights or to provoke or prolong armed conflicts.

Mitchell said: "Israel has a right to defend itself from these indiscriminate rocket attacks, but equally they are governed by international law in how they respond. There is no doubt that an enormous number of innocent people have been caught up in this action, and of course this will have effects not just in this generation but down the generations, and that is what has poisoned the well of opinion and goodwill in the Middle East."

He said questions needed to be answered about the scale of the Israeli operations in Gaza, but added: "There are very strict rules governing the conduct of international warfare, and the UN and the schools, which are places of sanctuary in Gaza, clearly should not be attacked."

A government spokesman said the cross-departmental review of export licences was under way, but could not say how long it would take. He said no new licences had been issued for use by the Israeli military since it launched the latest attacks on Gaza.

"Suspending export licences is not a decision we take lightly and it is right that we examine the facts fully. This is the approach being taken by the vast majority of countries. We welcome the current ceasefire and the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza, and continue to call for a political solution to be found."